Chapter 2
TWO
SCARLETT
It’s been three days since Dad hauled me home. Three long days spent hiding in my childhood bedroom, crying in the shower, and letting Mom force-feed me comfort food while the internet devoured my viral meltdown.
Somewhere between the humiliation and heartbreak, my phone became completely unusable.
Calls from reporters. Emails from entertainment sites.
Messages from sports blogs. Voicemails from television producers.
Everybody wants something from me. Reporters are demanding statements, entertainment sites want details, and sports networks are practically begging for an interview.
Apparently the entire country is dying to hear what the longtime girlfriend of MLB golden boy Ethan Hayes has to say after publicly losing her shit and exposing his cheating ass to half the internet.
The attention hasn't slowed down either.
Every time I pick up my phone, there are new notifications waiting for me.
A producer from a morning show wants an exclusive interview.
A sports network is requesting a comment about Ethan's public apology.
Several podcasts have offered money in exchange for my side of the story, and yesterday some celebrity gossip site somehow got my personal number and left a voicemail asking if I'd be willing to discuss "the future of my relationship" with Ethan.
As if there's still a relationship to discuss.
As if that chapter of my life didn't go up in flames the second I walked into our bedroom.
At this point, throwing my phone into the nearest lake feels like a perfectly reasonable solution.
Instead, I'm twenty-four years old, living with my parents again, and hiding from the world while strangers dissect the worst moment of my life online. The situation would almost be funny if it weren't so pathetic and mine.
My hands are clammy as I twist them together in my lap.
Nervous energy has been building inside me since last night when Mom and Dad casually informed me that Aunt Carlie had decided to throw me a welcome-home party at the clubhouse.
Ever since then, a knot has been sitting in my stomach that refuses to loosen.
It's been a hell of a long time since I've gone to a club gathering. Long enough that I honestly don't know what to expect anymore.
The people waiting at that clubhouse used to be my family.
Hell, they still are my family. At least they're supposed to be.
Guilt settles heavily in my chest as I stare out the windshield.
I ghosted them for years. Not intentionally, life just happened.
Ethan's career took off, and suddenly there was always another game, another city, another event, another obligation demanding our attention.
One missed birthday turned into two. A skipped cookout became several.
Holiday visits grew shorter until eventually they stopped happening altogether.
Somewhere along the way, years slipped by before I even realized what was happening.
Now I'm showing up again like nothing has changed. Except everything has. Ethan isn't the man I thought he was, my life is in pieces, and the future I'd spent nearly a decade building disappeared overnight.
Aunt Carlie's solution to all of that is apparently shoving me into a room full of people I haven't seen in years and feeding me barbecue. Jesus. The more I think about it, the more appealing those reporters start to sound.
Now I come home after being gone forever and they want to welcome me back with open arms, or at least Aunt Carlie does. What about the twins, and the rest of the crew? We’ve texted here and there over the years, commented on each other's posts, but I haven’t hung out with them in so long.
We’re at a red light, blinker on, waiting to turn. Dad already rode over on his bike earlier, so it’s just me and her in the car. “What’s wrong with you?” Mom asks from the driver’s seat. I look at her and she winces. “I mean besides the obvious.”
Jesus, brutal honesty, she’s never been one to say things softly, just tells it like it is. I shrug, “Nothing, why?”
She gives me a look. “Come on, Scar. I know you. There’s something eating at you. You aren’t going to have any fun at your party–”
I shake my head and stare out the window. “There shouldn’t even be a party.”
“What?” Mom says a little too loudly as her eyes widen in disbelief.
I shake my head already regretting saying anything. “Nevermind.”
“Baby,” she grabs my hand in hers. “Your family has missed you and we are so glad that you’re home. Everyone has been dying to come over, but I keep telling them no, trying to give you time to… I don’t know. Heal I guess.”
“They should hate me.”
“Hate you? Why would they hate you?”
“I’m the one who left. God, even before I left, I was gone. I stopped coming around, chasing after that dumbass in school. I was so damn pathetic.”
“Stop that right now.”
“It’s true. I ignored everyone and followed after him like a lovesick puppy acting like none of you existed. No one should want to see me. I wouldn’t want to.”
“Oh my god, pity party much?”
I look up and glare at my mom. “Seriously, I’m pouring my heart out over here, and you say that?”
Mom and I pull up to the clubhouse, the familiar gravel crunching under the tires.
She puts her SUV into park and gives me a long, knowing look.
“Scarlett, you gave that asshat eight years of your life. Years you can’t get back, but so the fuck what, you shouldn’t want them back.
They’re yours, you earned them. Those years taught you who you are even if it feels like you have no idea who that is right now.
Let me tell you something else, Scarlett Ann Blackstone, you are MY daughter, mine.
When bad shit happens, you break, fall apart, but then you get back up, put yourself back together, like a fucking phoenix, and come back better than before. ”
“That’s easier said than done.”
“I fucking know it is. I know it is, but baby girl, if anyone can do it, it’s you. So what, you’re embarrassed, but you did nothing wrong, he did.”
I lean my head back against the headrest and close my eyes. “But the people online.”
She rolls her eyes dramatically. “The people online can suck a big hairy fat one.”
I snort and look over at my mom who’s smiling like a crazy person. God, I love her so much. “You ready, baby?” Mom asks softly, squeezing my knee.
I nod, swallowing hard. “Yeah. Let’s do this.”
We climb out of the SUV and the clubhouse doors swing open almost immediately.
“Scarlett!” Aunt Carlie’s voice breaks as she rushes toward me, Uncle Mason right behind her.
The second I’m in reach she pulls me into her arms, hugging me so tight it knocks the air out of me.
She smells exactly like she always does, like home.
“Oh honey,” she murmurs, rocking me gently.
“I’m so damn glad you’re back. We all are. ”
Uncle Mason, the Iron Reapers MC president himself, wraps his massive arms around both of us, his voice rough. “Took you long enough, kiddo. This place hasn’t been the same without you.”
Tears burn my eyes, but the knot of anxiety in my chest loosens as more boots hit the gravel.
I look up and see Wyatt and Weston jog over, matching grins splitting their faces.
Weston takes me out of their arms and lifts me clean off the ground in one of his spinning bear hugs.
“There’s our girl! Heard you went full savage on Ethan’s tiny dick on camera. Club legend.”
Wyatt ruffles my hair. “Proud of you, Scar.” He glances back and waves someone forward. “Come meet our wife, we’ve told her all about you.”
“Oh god,” I laugh.
A beautiful woman around my age walks up and Wyatt wraps his arm around her shoulders. “Hadley, this is Scarlett, our cousin.”
Hadley pulls me into a warm hug. “I’ve heard so many stories about you and the guys growing up together. Welcome home.”
I hug her back. “Thank you.”
Cole steps up next with a warm, solid hug. “Good to have you home, Scar. For good this time, eh?”
Before I can even respond, a familiar laugh cuts through and Tessa shoves her way past Cole, elbowing him playfully.
“Move it, baby cakes. Some of us have history here.” She doesn’t hesitate, just throws her arms around me in a bone-crushing hug.
“Scarlett fucking Blackstone. I can’t believe you’re really back, bitch. I missed you so much, you asshole.”
I laugh through the tears, hugging her back just as hard.
“Bitch, asshole? I can tell you missed me.” I laugh.
We didn’t meet until my senior year when she moved to town and she and Cole became best friends.
“I missed you too, Tess. God, look at you… Cole’s fiancée?
I need the full story on how that happened. ”
“Damn right you do,” she says, pulling back with a wicked grin. “We’ve got years of catching up to do. And don’t worry, the girls and I have your back with all this Ethan shit. Let that small dick motherfucker try and start something.”
“Okay, weirdo,” Cole says, pulling her away from me.
Steele approaches with a half-smile, his arm around another beautiful woman around my age. “Scar, this is my wife, Erica,” he says. Erica smiles, “It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too,” I say.
Despite all the changes since I’ve been gone, these are still my people. The ones who knew me before I tried to become someone else. They don’t look at me like I’m broken or an outsider. They look at me like I belong. And damn, it feels good to finally be home.
“Come on, let’s eat, the food’s getting cold,” a huge man calls from the doorway. He’s super tall, strongest-man-alive muscles, and really good looking. The kind of guy who looks like he could bench press a ton.
“Who the hell is that?” I lean over and whisper to the twins, eyes wide.
Weston snorts and shakes his head.
“What?” I ask.
“That’s Tiny,” Wyatt says, grinning like an idiot.
“No it is not.”